I'm confused. Look at your original post and tell me what you wrote there...did I read that wrong, or did you write that wrong?

This I agree with:

Quote:

Like I said before teaching an art is not only about talent or knowing the technique. Its about being able to communicate and control and know little details about how people react, it takes time to develop that understanding.

I would say that generally applies to teaching, don't you? In any case, such skills can be learnt or developed (at any age).

I'd say that there's only a small percentage of teachers out there who truly have this ability. Is this a case of the rest "faking it till they make it"...??? Or maybe they're in the process of doing and growing???

At what point does one start? When is one truly ever "ready" to teach? 53 like Funakoshi? Or 21 like Kano?

I like the points that kintama brought up. A teenager or twenty something in this day and age will be better at somethings (tech related) because we grew up in the era of IBM, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Playstation. But the running of a dojo, imparting the moral values, requires someone with the experience and maturity of an older person. The 16 year old black belt can teach the technical aspects of a style to someone, but they need the moral guidance of someone who's been there.

And again I disagree. Define maturity. Maturity has nothing to do with elapsed years. The mutifaceted dimensions of maturity include the obvious like physical and mental, as well as the not so obvious like emotional and spiritual.

I can show you a 50 year old with the emotional maturity of a 6 year old. I can show you a 10 year old with the spiritual maturity of an 80 year old ascetic. I can show you a 20 year old with the mental maturity of a 40 year old.

To further the thought, experience does not equal years either. years are only inferred with experience.

Here is a tough one, which has more experience with languages?a 40-year-old who has lived at home with parents, never married, no kids, no responsibility, never left a 100 mile radius from home. has studied languages in his basement for the past 20 years.ORA multi-lingual 25 year old who grew up in the US but has graduated from college in Zurich and now lives and is married in Beijing?

Ditto! Here's another example. I have been cooking for nearly 30 years (started cooking at 10). No formal qualifications whatsoever, learnt everything I know from mum in the kitchen, and thru personal experimentation and feel. Can cook a fairly decent meal. Most people I've cooked for and casually entertained, have commented that I should open a restaurant (illogical thinking that cooking ability somehow equates to running a restaurant - ya starting to see the parallels????).

By comparison, a 23 yo newly qualified chef who's been through the 3-4 year apprenticeship (say total 6 years training), who is just as capable, and could probably cook a really fancy meal (10/10 for presentation, taste, etc.), and even have the smarts to run his own restaurant.

Who has more experience? Young upcoming chef or me? Who's better? How do you (or someone else) know who's better? Who's right as to who's better?

On paper, I couldn't hope to get a job as short order cook in a gas station diner, much less a sous chef position in a fancy hotel. But our young 23 year old qualified chef has the "experience" to go places.

"In the real world, older people in ANY profession are more experienced and more mature and just plain better."

Does this apply to exotic dancers, too?

Hey, there's GOT to be a couple 19 year olds out there who can teach MA, but it should be a rarity. Once I was at a tournament where the CENTER judge for kata competition was a young man about 19, dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt. Had I been a contestant, I would have announced my name and style, then looked at him and said "Who the *%$^ are you??"

Look at the posts here from older experienced martial artist vs. the ones from young up and comers. See the difference? I do. I'd want the most experienced person or the job and most likely he/she would be of some age.

_________________________ Skinny,Bald,and Handsome! Fightingarts Warrior of the year

I will qualify this much. If I had the choice between a 28 year old who's been studying for 13 years, or the 50 year old who's been studying for eight years, I would pick the 28 year old, simply because he does have more experience and would have a better technical understanding of the style he teaches. That is ignoring other variables such as whether the same style is being taught, or how good of an instructor each had, but that's just adding unnecessary variables to the question at hand.